Dean Gaffney fell victim to the 'trappings of fame'

Dean Gaffney enjoyed the "trappings of fame" too much.

The 37-year-old actor, who starred as Robbie Jackson on the BBC soap 'EastEnders' from 1993 to 2003, has had a number of flings down the years and after he was recently pictured with dancer Maddie Stephens, his 22-year relationship with Sarah Burge - the mother of his twin 18-year-old daughters, Charlotte and Chloe, has been left in the balance.

He admitted: "We are in a place where we don't know what the future holds. No one wants to see pictures of someone that's been in their life for so long with someone else. No one wants to be humiliated.

"When you meet someone when you're 14 or 15 you need to grow. You might need to grow together, or you might need to grow separately. At the moment we're growing."

Dean - who made one-off returns to 'EastEnders' in 2004 and 2010 - admits he used his celebrity status to meet women.

He recalled: "I was 15 when I joined EastEnders. You can't believe you're getting into clubs free - women, drink, whatever. My flaw might have been enjoying the life too much, enjoying the trappings of fame. And that might mean meeting women.

"I'm a red-blooded male. I make mistakes like every other human. And it's about learning from those mistakes. I wasn't proud at the time of the choices that I made. It's not acceptable to treat women in that way, especially when you have daughters."